Reversing mechanism for washing-machines



(No Model.)

A. M. DOLPH.

' REVERSING MECHANISM FOR WASEING MAOHINES. No. 255.422.

Patented Mar. 28, 1882.

UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFIC ALEXANDER M. DOLPH, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

REVERSING MECHANISM FOR WASHING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 255,422, dated March 28, 1882.

Application filed November 12, 1881.

1' 0 all whom it may concern Be it known thatl, ALEXANDER M.DOLPH, a resident of the city of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reversing Mechanism for \Vashing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My improvements relate to that class of washing-machines which in general consist of a cylinder for containing the clothes to be washed, located within a tank, preferably cylindrical in form, for holding the liquid used for washing the clothes, and turned within the said tank.

The object of the features of my invention is to provide a cheap, durable, and simple device whereby the inside cylinder can be automatically rotated back and forth-that is, reciprocally-and whereby the rotation of the cylinder can at will be begunor stopped or reversed.

Referring to the drawings making apart of this specification, Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a perspective view of a cylinder washing-machine with my invention attached. Fig. 2, Sheet 1, is a side elevation of the mechanism for shifting the belt from one pulley to another to reverse the motion ofthe washing-cylinder. Figs.

3 and 4 are detached views of the mechanism shown in Fig 2.

A represents the outer casing or tank, or tub, as it may be termed, in which is contained therevolving'orinsidecylinder, A. This cylinderis journaled at either end of the casin g A, and at one end the shaft a, by which this cylinder is journaled, extends through far enough to receive the gear-wheel a, which is keyed fast to this shaft, so that when the gearwheel rotates the cylinder A will be caused to revolve. This gear-wheel meshes with a pinion, B, keyed to the shaft B, one end ofwhich shaft is journaled in the upright 0, attached to the bracket 0, which in turn is attached to the end of the casing A. To this shaftB is also firmly keyed the band-pulley D, and located in the same shaft, B, and on either side of the pulley D, are the two idlers D" D which turn freely on the shaft. On the shaft B is also located the pinion b, which also turns freely on the shaft. The side of this pinion which is adjacent to the pulley D is provided with a clutch,

(No model.) i

E. This shaft Eis provided between itsjour- Dal-bearings with the screw thread or worm d. Directly under this shaft E is a gearwheel, F, which turns on a stud, F, springing from the bracket The cogs of this gearwheel F engage with the worm d on the shaft E, so that when this shaft is rotated the gearwheel F will be caused to revolve. springing from the face of this gear-wheel F is a stud, 0 the purpose of which will be hereinafter described.

In front of the shaft E and gear-wheel F is the rock-shaft G, one end of which is journaled in the arm is of the upright- O, and the other is journaled at the point inthe arm d of the bracket '16. This rock-shaft is capable of a slight degree of longitudinal motion, which motion is limited by shoulders which strike against its journal-bearings. Extending at right angles from this rock-shaft are the arms 6 e, the ends of which are provided with the inwardly-projecting wedge-shaped lugs ff. On the side of the arms 6 e opposite to the lugsff are the lugs g g, the lug 9 being the longer of the two, and provided with the beveled edge 9 The rock-shaft G is also provided with the weighted hand lever G, which lever is for the purpose of partially rotating the shaft in its hearings to bring the arms 6 6 against the side of the gear-wheel F, or remove them therefrom, as occasion requires.

Near the center of the rock-shaft Gris a collar or flange, h, which extends only part way around the rock-shaft. A lever, H, is pivoted at h to the bracket E. The lower arm, i, of this lever H is much shorter than the upper arm, 7:, and the lower end of this arm is provided with a notch which engages with the collar-h on the rock-shaft G. The long arm 43 of the lever His connected with the sliding bar;

H, which slides in appropriate hearings on the casing A. To this sliding bar are secured the looped rods J J, through theloops of which pass the belts I l. which pass around the pulleys D, D, and D and the purpose of these looped rods is to guide the belts onto one or the other of these pulleys as it is desired to rotate the washingcylinder.

The manner in which the above-described mechanism operates to shift the belts from one pulley to another, and thus cause the washingcylinder to rotate tirst in one direction and then in the other, is as follows:

To operate my machine I employ the two belts I I, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, which belts are driven by appropriate shafting and pulleys in such a manner that the belt 1 travels in the direction indicated by the arrow on its surface, and the belt I travels in an opposite direction, as indicated by its arrow. Should both of these belts be driven by the same shaft, one of them must be crossed in order to obtain this opposite motion. When the washing-cylinder is at rest the various parts occupy the position shown in Fig. 1, the belt I being on the idler D and the belt I on the idler D the pulley D, keyed to the shaft B, remaining at rest, as a consequence of which the washing-cylimler remains at rest. The belts are caused to remain on the idlers D and D by the looped rods J J, connected to the sliding bar H, which in turn is held in position through the interposition of the lever 11 by means to be hereinafter more fully described. At this stage the weighted lever G has been thrown over, as shown in Fig. 1, and by this means the rock-shaft E has been rotated, so that the arms 0 0 have been moved away from the gear-wheel F, so that when this gear-wheel revolves the stud c on the face of said wheel will not strike against the lugsff on the arms 0 c. When the idler D revolves it also, by means of the clutch 00, causes the pinion b to revolve, and this pinion, engaging with the pinion b, causes the shaft E to rotate, which in turn, through the medium of the worm (1, causes the gear-wheel F to revolve in the direction indicated by the arrow. This motion is constantly going on, even while the washing-cylinder is at rest.

The requisite amount of clothes having been introduced into the wasing-cylinder, the door or lid of the washing-cylinder, and also that of the casing, is closed. The weighted lever G is now thrown over toward the front of the machine, and this rotates the rock-shaft G, so that the arms a c are thrown down, as shown in Fig. 2. The stud c on the wheel F will now, as the latter revolves, come in contact alternately with the wedge-shaped lugs ff. Assuming now that when the lever G was thrown over, as above referred to, the stud e was above the lugf, as the wheel Frevolves the stud 6 comes in contact with the lugf, which is thus pushed over to the right sufficient to allow the stud to pass. This movement slides the rockshaft G to the right, which sliding motion is permitted by thcconstruction before described. As this rock-shaft G is pushed to the right the collar h thereon, acting on the lever H through the medium of the slot in the arm 1', which engages with said collar, causes the sliding bar H to be moved to the left, which latter motion pushes the belt 1 onto the pulley D, which in:- mediatel y causes the washin g-cylinder,th rough the intervention ofthe shaft B and gear-wheel a, to revolve. The position occupied by the various parts at this stage of the operation is represented in Fig. 2.

The belt I is made wider than the face of the pulley D, so that while it is on this pulley D it still has sufficient bearing on the idler D to keep it in motion. It will readily be understood that should this belt 1 be pushed ontirely off from the idler 1) the gear-wheel F would stop turning, as it depends for its motion on this idler, through the interposition of the piuions b b, shaft E, and worm d, all of which would be put at restif the idler D should stop, and the washing-cylinder would thus be caused to revolve in one direction only, unless the belts were shifted by the hands of an operator. This belt I is therefore made of sufficient width to constantlyhave a bcariu g on the idler D As the geanwhecl F continues in its revolution the stud 0 comes in contact with the lugf, as seen in Fig. 2, and this lug and the rock-shaft G are thereby pushed to the left, by which motion the sliding bar H is, through the medium of the lever H, pushed to the right. This carries the belts I and I to the right, and the belt 1 is pushed from the pulley D onto the idler D", the belt I being pushed from the idler D onto the pulley D, and as a consequence of this change of belts the washing-cylinder, now driven by the belt I, revolves in an opposite direction to that taken when driven by the belt I, as will readily be understood. Thus the operation goes on, the direction of revolution of the washingeylinder being automatically changed as the stud 0 comes alternately in contact with the lugsfandf.

The size of the intermediate gearing may be so regulated that the washing-cylinder shall make one or more revolutions in each direction to each revolution of the gear-wheel F. When the washing-cylinder has been in operation for a suthcientlength of time the weighted lever G is thrown back, as in Fig. 1. This moves the arms 0 c away from the face of the wheel F, and as they are so moved the beveled portion of the lug 9 comes in contact with the underside of the armd of the bracket E,which causes the rock-shaft G to be moved over to the left until the stud 9 comes in contact with the arm of the upright (J. This rock-shaft is now held between the arm k of IlO IIS

the upright G and the arm dot the bracket E,

tion until it is desired to start the washingcylinder, when the weighted lever is thrown over and down, as aforementioned, and the operation, as above described, is repeated.

The fluid for washing purposes is introduced into the cylinder by a pipe (not shown) connected to the cylinder at any suitable point, but preferably at a point in one of the heads or ends a little above the center of said end or head. A suitable conduit for the egress of fluid from the same is provided in pipe X, and means for regulating and stopping the flow of fluid through said pipe Xare provided in stopcock X. This pipe is located at any suitable point in said cylinder.

Experience has developed the fact thatin cylindrical washing-machines the cylinder is most easily emptied of fluid byan exit-tube.

when located at or about the middle of the bottom of the cylinder. I therefore preferably connect the egress-pipe X to the cylinder at a point substantially as shown.

From the foregoing description of the construction and operation of the various features of my invention it will be seen thatthe objects above referred to are accomplished in a perfect manner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. The combination of the washing-cylinder A, provided with gear-wheel a, pinion B, shaft B, pulley-D, pinions b b, shaft 1 provided with worm d, gear-wheel F, provided with stud e rock-shaft G, provided with arms e e,

lever H, and sliding bar H, substantially as described. k

2. The combination of the shaft E and operating mechanism, said shaft being provided with worm d, gear-wheel F, provided with stud c rock-shaft G, provided with collar h and arms 6 6, said arms having lugsff, lever H,

pivoted at h, and the sliding bar H, said bar being provided with looped rods J J, substantially as described.-

3. The gear-Wheel F, provided with means to cause it to revolve, and having on its face the stud e ,in combination with the rock-shaft G, provided with arms 60, weighted lever G, and collar h,and the pivoted lever H and sliding bar H, provided with the looped rods J J, substantially as and for the purposes specifled.

4. The rock-shaft G, constructed substantially as described, and adapted to bemoved laterally by appropriate mechanism,in combination with the pivoted lever H, sliding bar H, provided with looped rods J J, and the pulleys D D D substantially as and for the purposes specified.

5. The rock-shaft G, provided with collar h, weighted lever G, and arms 0 0, said arms being provided with the lugs f g and f g, in combination with the bracket E and upright G, and the pivoted lever H and sliding bar H, substantially as described.

ALEXANDER M. DOLPH. Witnesses:

W1vL-E. J oNEs, E. R. HILL. 

